Thakurta comments, "My new designation brings with it the responsibility of stabilising all the operations of Lintas Personal. Particularly, our Delhi and Bangalore offices need expansion in terms of operations. In fact, we are planning a wider national presence and may expand to Kolkata too."

Talking about Thakurta's new role, Ashish Bhasin, director, IMAG, Lintas India, says, "Thakurta was the natural choice for us, as he has worked with us for two years. With his experience in advertising, software and direct marketing, he is well equipped to drive the new expansion. The challenge for Lintas Personal is to establish a footprint that services markets in the US and the UK."

Thakurta, an engineer-cum MBA (from XLRI, Jamshedpur) started off with brief stints at Tanishq and Godrej (in Mumbai and Bangalore, in the electronic equipment division). His career in advertising started after he joined Bates (then Clarion Advertising). He left Clarion, Delhi, as director, client services, and moved on to establish his own software firm, Open Services. Two years ago, he joined Lintas Personal as the western region head.